Meet SBLive's 2022 All-Central Texas high school baseball teams

Who were the best high school baseball players in Central Texas this year?

It’s time to hand out some hardware to the Lone Star state's most dominant players on the diamond during the 2022 Texas high school baseball season.

SBLive Texas will recognize the top pitchers, slappers, power hitters and defensive stars in high school baseball around the state this year with our All-Region - Central, East, North, South and West - Texas high school baseball teams. After our All-Region teams are unveiled we will release SBLive’s All-State baseball teams.

We’ll begin our end-of-season baseball honors deep in the heart of the Lone Star State by revealing SBLive’s 2022 All-Central Texas teams and awards.

Our All-Region teams feature First Team, Second Team and Third Team selections, as well as awards for MVP, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year.

The teams and awards were compiled by SBLive Texas reporter Andrew McCulloch.

*Editor’s Note: College commitments and 2022 season stats listed where available.

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ALL-CENTRAL TEXAS BASEBALL AWARDS

All-CenTex MVP — Kaeden Kent, Senior, SS/P, Lake Travis 

Kaeden Kent, Lake Travis (No. 6) / Photo by Clara Sandoval

(Texas A&M signee; .422 AVG, 54 hits, 39 runs scored, 36 RBI, 21 walks, 20 extra-base hits, 1.097 OPS, 18 doubles, 11 SBs; 4-1 record, 1.18 ERA, 44 Ks, 23 hits allowed, 0.89 WHIP, Five saves, One HR allowed in 42 GP)

All-CenTex Pitcher of the Year — Travis Sykora, Junior, P, Round Rock

(Texas commit; 3-0 record, 0.00 ERA, Seven walks, Six hits allowed, 0.45 WHIP, 29 IP in 25 GP)

All-CenTex Offensive Player of the Year — Kasen Wells, Senior, CF, Smithson Valley 

(Texas A&M signee; .569 AVG, 62 hits, 56 runs scored, 32 extra-base hits, 31 RBI, 25 SBs, Nine triples, Eight HRs in 36 GP)

All-CenTex Defensive Player of the Year — DJ Pinkerton, Junior, OF, Pflugerville Hendrickson 

(.447 AVG, 34 hits, 25 RBI, 17 runs scored, 15 extra-base hits, 1.403 OPS, Seven triples, Six SBs, Four HRs, .984 fielding percentage, 104 putouts in 30 GP)

All-CenTex Newcomer of the Year — Ed Small, Freshman, SS/OF, Austin Anderson 

(Texas commit; .463 AVG, 34 RBI, 23 runs scored, Four triples, Three HRs in 35 GP)

All-CenTex Coach of the Year — Jordan Vierra, Georgetown 

Georgetown celebrates the 5A state title / Photo by Tommy Hays

(3rd season, led Georgetown to the UIL 5A state championship)

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FIRST TEAM ALL-CENTRAL TEXAS

Pitcher — John Youens, Junior, P, Bosqueville 

(Baylor commit; 11-1 record, 0.46 ERA, 110 Ks in 33 GP)

Pitcher — Jackson Baker, Junior, P, Lake Travis 

Jackson Baker, Lake Travis / Photo by Clara Sandoval

(Alabama commit; 5-0 record, 0.40 ERA, 39 Ks, 35 IP in 42 GP)

Catcher — Zachary Mazoch, Senior, C, Georgetown 

Zachary Mazoch, Georgetown / Photo by Tommy Hays

(Baylor signee; .551 AVG, 39 walks, 38 hits, 19 RBI, 14 extra-base hits, Five runs scored, 1.510 OPS, Three triples in 37 GP)

First Base — Cole Johnson, Junior, 1B, Lake Travis 

Cole Johnson, Lake Travis / Photo by Clara Sandoval

(Oklahoma State commit; .469 AVG, 38 RBI, Four HRs, .982 fielding percentage in 42 GP)

Second Base — Wyatt Cunningham, Senior, 2B, Austin McCallum 

(Univ. of Montevallo signee; .448 AVG, 37 runs scored, 19 RBI, Six doubles, .965 fielding percentage in 32 GP)

Shortstop — Tracer Lopez, Senior, SS, Cameron Yoe 

(Texas Tech signee; .534 AVG, 47 hits, 41 runs scored, 24 RBI, 19 extra-base hits, 1.454 OPS, 38 SBs, Five triples, .942 fielding percentage in 26 GP)

Third Base — Ridge Morgan, Sophomore, 3B, Round Rock Westwood 

(.447 AVG, 39 RBI, Four HRs; 6-1 record, 2.23 ERA, 58 Ks, 59 IP in 33 GP)

Outfield — Blake Coleman, Senior, RF/OF, Austin Anderson 

(Odessa College signee; .540 AVG, 39 RBI, 18 SBs, Two HRs in 35 GP)

Outfield — Kaleb Kuligowski, Senior, OF, Valley Mills 

Kaleb Kuligowski / Photo by Tommy Hays

(Howard Payne signee; .444 AVG, 33 RBI in 34 GP)

Outfield — Isaac Yruretagoyena, Junior, OF, New Braunfels Canyon 

(.457 AVG, 43 hits, 33 runs scored, 33 RBI, 18 extra-base hits, 1.313 OPS, 17 SBs, 16 walks, Six triples, Three HRs in 35 GP)

Utility — Zach Spradling, Senior, 3B/2B/DH, Buda Hays 

(McMurry Univ. signee; .424 AVG, 26 RBI, Seven HRs, Seven doubles in 27 GP)

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SECOND TEAM ALL-CENTRAL TEXAS

Pitcher — Kolby Killough, Senior, P, China Spring (Murray State signee; 8-3 record, 1.52 ERA, 121 Ks in 41 GP)

Pitcher — Tim Arguello, Senior, P/OF, Smithson Valley (Wichita State signee; 10-0, 1.65 ERA, 80 Ks; .372 AVG, 33 RBI in 36 GP)

Catcher — Rashawn Galloway, Senior, C, Boerne (Texas State signee; .553 AVG, 49 RBI, 29 walks, 22 extra-base hits, 18 runs scored, 1.485 OPS, Five HRs, Two Ks in 38 GP)

First Base — Colby Diaz, Senior, 1B/P, Leander Rouse (Texas State signee; .331 AVG, 24 RBI, Seven HRs; 5-1 record, 0.75 ERA in 34 GP)

Second Base — Jackson Harrell, Junior, 2B, Cedar Park Vista Ridge (.405, 19 RBI, Five doubles, Three triples in 31 GP)

Shortstop — Weston Oliver, Senior, SS/P, San Saba (.578 AVG, 37 hits, 30 RBI, 29 runs, 22 extra-base hits, 15 SBs, Eight HRs; 6-2 record, 103 Ks, .944 fielding percentage, 56.1 IP in 20 GP)

Third Base — Ryne Abel, Senior, 3B/P/INF, Lorena (Richland College signee; .446 AVG, 37 runs scored, 28 RBI; 9-0 record, 76 Ks in 30 GP)

Outfield — Kaden Kaspar, Junior, CF/OF, Leander Rouse (.439 AVG, 25 RBI, 25 runs scored, 10 SBs in 34 GP)

Outfield — Matthew Brooks, Senior, OF, Round Rock Cedar Ridge (Coastal Bend College signee; .416 average, 21 RBI, 12 doubles, Five HRs, 1.000 fielding percentage in 30 GP)

Outfield — Ryan Brandon, Senior, OF/SS, Boerne Champion (Trinity Univ. football and baseball signee; .416 AVG, 32 hits, 21 RBI, 20 runs scored, Nine extra-base hits, 1.027 OPS, 14 SBs, .927 fielding percentage in 28 GP)

Utility — Bryson Lake, Sophomore, SS/P, Harper (.475 AVG, 39 runs scored, 38 hits, 31 RBI, .887 SLG, Five triples, Three HRs; 9-3 record, 100 Ks, 19 walks, 61 IP in 25 GP)

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THIRD TEAM ALL-CENTRAL TEXAS

Pitcher — Aidan Johnson, Senior, P, Austin Anderson (Cerro Coso Community College commit; 9-0 record, 1.63 ERA, 93 Ks, 59 IP in 35 GP)

Pitcher — Ethan Garcia, Senior, P, New Braunfels Canyon (Incarnate Word signee; 11-2 record, 1.67 ERA, 70 Ks, 50 hits allowed, 1.04 WHIP, 69.2 IP; .303 AVG, 27 hits, 18 RBI, 16 runs scored, .791 OPS, Three doubles in 33 GP)

Catcher — Brayden Faulkner, Senior, C/RF, China Spring (Lamar football commit; .444 AVG, 48 hits, 36 runs scored, 31 RBI, 25 extra-base hits, Seven HRs in 44 GP)

First Base — Jackson Davis, Junior, 1B, Harper (.464 AVG, 35 runs scored, 31 hits, 29 RBI, 20 SBs, Three HRs, Three triples in 25 GP)

Second Base — Caleb Meyer, Senior, 2B, Blanco (.519 AVG, 41 runs scored, 41 RBI, 40 hits, Four HRs in 24 GP)

Shortstop — Riley Sustala, Freshman, SS/P, Abbott (.439 AVG, 48 runs scored, 33 RBI, 26 SBs, 13 extra-base hits, Five triples, Two HRs in 27 GP)

Third Base — Trace Necessary, Senior, 3B/1B, China Spring (Murray State signee; .405 AVG, 51 hits, 40 RBI, 40 runs scored, 12 doubles in 44 GP)

Outfield — Cole May, Junior, OF, Austin Westlake (Texas A&M Corpus Christi commit; .480 AVG, 24 hits, 19 runs scored, 10 RBI, .700 SLG, 10 SBs, Eight extra-base hits in 14 GP) [Stats from District 26-6A games]

Outfield — Cooper Lake, Senior, OF, Lorena (.418 AVG, 24 RBI, 23 runs scored, 10 SBs in 30 GP)

Outfield — Ethan McAlister, Junior, OF, Buda Johnson (.344 AVG, 33 runs scored, 32 hits, 18 RBI, Nine extra-base hits, 1.048 OPS, 13 SBs, Five HRs in 38 GP)

Utility — Blake Lewis, Senior, P/DH, Mason (9-1 record, 2.26 ERA, 77 Ks, 55 IP; .404 AVG, 34 hits, 22 runs scored, 13 walks, 12 SBs, 1.199 OPS, Four triples in 26 GP)